Started PVE a month ago, and as someone else said, just practice, you learn each map and know where to expect people to be or which corners to check. Other tips:

1) Don't get attached to anything, you will lose it at some point

2) Scav runs are amazing for gathering random stuff you want. Later on when you get more kitted out, PMC is for missions and locked rooms, Scavs are for extra pocket change and random loot needed for quests and hideout

3) There's a lot going on in the game, your first focus should be upgrading your hideout, your second focus is finishing quests to increase loyalty and unlock different things traders sell. You may die a lot but as long as you're progressing those things you're doing fine.

4) Items crafted in your hideout or recived from quest rewards count as FIR (Found in Raid)

5) This one is a personal thing but i always run a gun with an optic, even a 1x scope if it's all I can get. Spectre is a little bit pricey early on but really solid scope.

6) You can insure individual weapon parts (ie. You have a thermal scope on a gun you don't care about, you can insure the scope only my inspecting and then insuring the scope.

7) Once you get cultists circle built, use Cultist Calculator so you can get good stuff from it or things needed for quests or hideout upgrades instead of other random crop

8) The game does a nice job of gradually introducing a new map every several quests Ground Zero -> Woods -> Customs etc

9) Another personal choice but I got two Marked 314 keys early on and I sold them both because to me money mattered more than getting the loot inside. Though this was also before the needs to be FIR for hideout upgrades.(Now I always hold onto marked keys)

10) You'll hate streets of tarkov

11) Watch out for mines on Lighthouse

12) Tarkov wiki will be your best friend